DigiDestined
by Taigurl
Summary: Matt thought he had everything he wanted—until she wandered back into his life. Mimato? Sorato? Scheming Jun? Hookups, breakups, and family secrets test these friendships in their greatest challenge yet.


They were up late again last night on the phone, chatting away for hours. Yamato never considered himself a phone person, but then again, catching up with an old friend was a different story. He couldn't believe how long it had been since they had last had a real conversation. They had both been so busy of course; he with school and his band and girlfriend, and she with everything else. It didn't help that he was no natural communicator either. Had it not been for her spontaneous phone call one night, things might have continued on as comfortably as they always had been. Perhaps she had not always been his idea of a enchanting person, but Yamato found that somehow time and distance afforded him a new and dangerously charming perspective on Mimi Tachikawa.

Things were no different on this late Friday afternoon. He discovered surprisingly enough he was looking forward to her replies to his emails. Although some might say her correspondence was more than toeing the line of flirtation, Yamato chalked it up to being the same Mimi he always knew. He was allowed to write to an old friend, right? Sora would certainly approve. Well, probably anyways. If he had ever mentioned it to her. For one reason or another, the fact that he was carrying on a lengthy correspondence with Mimi seemed to slip his mind when it came to letting his girlfriend know about it. _What's there to know anyways? _Matt thought defensively as he pulled on a shirt_. I'm sure I have just as much right to talk to Mimi as anyone else does_. The angel on his shoulder piped up from the back of his mind; _If you're so sure about all this, why are you defending yourself to—yourself?_

"Shut up." Matt said aloud, swatting the air for good measure. He took another look at the pictures Mimi sent him and slowly sucked in his breath. Cute. A little too cute. There she was at the beach looking very at home in the sand and sun and little else. Matt rarely saw Sora in anything less than a one-piece, coverup skirt, and sun visor, despite the fact that he had bought a cute (and relatively modest, he thought) swimsuit for her the previous year. He ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. It wasn't that he didn't find Sora attractive—he just sometimes wished she—packaged herself more enticingly.

A flag popped up on his computer announcing a new email—from Mimi. Yamato sat down and quickly banged out a response, hoping to catch her before she left. He discovered some excuses to dress a little more slowly, and took his time searching for his shoes somewhere under the clogged, cavernous expanse beneath his bed. At last he was ready. He went to go brush his teeth. Re-gel his hair. Dust his windowsills (dust his windowsills?). Matt glanced at the clock; shit—he was late! He scrambled to pull his jacket on and went to shut down his laptop but somehow found he couldn't resist waiting a few more seconds for Mimi's reply—just in case.

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Sora twisted the three year anniversary ring on her finger for the umpteenth time. It was a solid band of gold with a centered cluster of pink stones. Not something she'd normally choose for herself, but if Yamato liked it then she did too. With a sigh she took in the restaurant's cozy charm from her lonely seated position before returning to drumming the fingers of her jeweled hand on the table. A quick call to check on her date's late arrival left her with the drone of his answering machine, but she decided to wait it out a few more minutes. Yamato was probably getting chased down by some giddy fan and forced to sign a shirt or two.

You know how it gets.

No matter; the last few years had been a real high point in her life, Sora decided. Matt was her first genuine boyfriend and she enjoyed the status of significant other to the Teenage Wolves' popular lead singer. Privately she considered it no small feat that she was able to snag him when she did; Yamato Ishida—widely considered to be the most gorgeous, popular boy in school. Sure maybe she had a foot in the door from knowing him quite well for so long before, but the fact that he chose her over the tons of beautiful fangirls that mobbed him daily must mean something, right? And anyways, he was so mysterious and attractive even if he did get into a couple scrapes now and then. Dating a "bad boy" certainly lent her decidedly conservative image a new twist. In reality though, he wasn't bad at all. He treated her with the utmost respect and regard, was always smooth and gentle, his kisses as delicate and vanilla as his pretty face. With Sora, how could Yamato be any other way? He was never loud, or dirty, or impulsive, and most definitely was not—

"Taichi?" she answered, glancing at her phone's screen which had rudely jarred her lovely reverie.

"Ah—Sora-chan. Is Yamato with you?"

"Why don't you try his cell if you're looking for him?" she responded, slightly irritated.

"I already did but he didn't pick up. I figured you were the next sure bet."

"No, he isn't here. He was supposed to meet me 15 minutes ago here at the restaurant but he's late I guess." Sora added.

"Ok. Well let him know I called alright? Sorry to interrupt your date—or whatever."

"Um…sure thing."

There was an awkward pause.

"Uh, well, I'll see you 'round Sora—if you aren't already hanging out with Matt I mean—Matt comes first, of course—right…ok—see ya."

With a sigh Sora hung up and shut her eyes. It was silly to think that he still harbored a childhood crush on her, but occasionally little uncomfortable things like that happened. They were seniors now and practically all grown up. Sora had moved on at any rate and expected Taichi to have moved on as well. Surely the past could be put behind them where it belonged. Not that they really ever _had_ any past—that is—_he_ never asked her out or started anything…and then there was sweet, sensitive Yamato who saw her as a girl, not just some buddy to kick around with… and—well Sora just wasn't going to wait around forever—not that Tai was ever interested of course.

She winced at her scrambled, fleeting thoughts of yesteryear just in time to look up and see Matt stride through the door breathlessly, his jacket slick and lovely golden hair sprinkled with rain. With a smile he caught her eye and tossed his head as he moved towards her.

"Sorry I'm late darling," he murmured apologetically as he pecked her soft lips and slid into the booth across from her. "Rain and traffic; you know how it gets,"

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Daisuke lay sprawled out on the couch, channel-surfing without enthusiasm. His loose socks dangled from his feet pathetically, and he thought maybe he had better turn in early. All-day soccer camp and the heat had taken its toll. Not to mention his plan for impressing Kari today had completely failed. Those flowers he took her had wilted practically before he left the shop. With a sigh Daisuke rolled over and buried his face in a cushion. When was he ever going to get it right?

"Get over it loser; you're never going to get it right." Jun announced as she waltzed into the living room.

Irritated and embarrassed Daisuke sputtered, "I was not—thinking about Kari!"

"Well _I_ was thinking about Yama-chan and how beautiful our children are going to look after I figure out just how to use _these_ to the best of my advantage." Jun waved around a pile of papers.

"Give it up Jun," Daisuke groaned. "Sora's always three steps ahead of you."

"You know, I devoted a lot of time and energy into making that tramp's life miserable." Jun said under her breath. "Who would have ever thought it would come down to this! Even worse than Sora!"

"How can it get any worse, Jun? Yamato has been dating Sora for three years, end of story!" Daisuke retorted disinterestedly.

"I'm not talking about Sora, stupid—Mimi!" she shouted, waving around pieces of paper.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Daisuke sat up and snatched one from her. "Mimi? How did you—what—are these--"

"Yama-chan's emails? Why yes they are!" she smiled smugly, holding the letters to herself.

"Hey wait a minute! You can't just go digging through his personal stuff! Give me those!" Daisuke yelled.

"Poo-poo. All's fair in love and war," she declared with a secretive little smile as she sat down at her computer. "I hate Sora for stealing my Yummy-Yammers but let me tell you—I hate Pretty Princess Mimi more."

Daisuke made a face. "First of all, I don't want to hear you talking about my friends that way, and second of all, you've never even _met _Mimi before! It's not like she's ever done anything to you!"

"No matter," she said lightly.

Daisuke _had_ met Mimi a few times before, and she was indeed uncommonly pretty. Glancing at a couple of the attached email photos, he saw her tanned, toned figure waving cheerfully at the beach, with a rather large straw hat crowning her long, honey locks. _Not bad_, he thought.

"Sora at least gave me some hope with her ugliness--" Jun continued, "I figure if Matt can fall for her mug then it's only a matter of time before he realizes my amazing beauty!" She batted her eyelashes at herself in the mirror and fluffed up her already massive pouf of hair.

"Sora is _not_ ugly you bitchy little--"

"—would _you_ do her?" Jun shot rapidly.

"Ew—ugh—hell no!" he responded quickly. "That's like—doing _Mom_ or something," he gagged.

"My point exactly, beloved brother." Daisuke covered his mouth in guilt. Damn, couldn't he do anything right? All he wanted to do was defend his friends… "Sora will be _devastated_ when she finds out about this," Jun gushed enthusiastically.

"I really don't see what's so wrong about Matt writing Mimi." Daisuke said, laying the emails down.

"Well you wouldn't would you? That's because you don't understand how the female mind works!" Daisuke rolled his eyes and prepared to tune out one of his older sister's many expositions on the subject. "I will admit," Jun sighed dejectedly, "I wasn't able to find any profession of secret passion, breakup intentions, or Sora bashing like I wanted, but that's ok. It will come in time." She reassured herself, going over the emails again. Disgusted, Daisuke snatched up all the papers and stalked off to his room. "I can always print out more!" Jun yelled after him, thumbing through a bridal magazine.

A/N: Thanks for reading—this is my first work in several years so please bear with me. :D


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